If the sensor manufacturers' products already have the software "hooks" that allow the sensor data to be accessed by the SOA, the implementation has a quicker ROI.

In his monthly Extreme Data column (which takes a break this issue), Tom Kevan has described how service oriented architecture (SOA) software enhances the value of sensor data by making them easily available to large numbers of users.

Traditionally, a manufacturing execution system (MES) is defined as a production scheduling and tracking system, which schedules and updates orders, analyzes and reports resource availability, collects execution data—such as material and labor usage, process parameters, and order and equipment status—and maintains statistical quality control. But such a static definition doesn't do this genre of software justice because MESs are a work in progress.

For ten years, OPC's suite of standards has provided the industrial automation world with open connectivity, but the technology on which its standards are based is no longer on the cutting edge of data sharing. The foundation that rescued manufacturers, systems integrators, and software providers from the chaos of proprietary communications interfaces now has to compete with fast movers such as service-oriented architectures and Web services. The question is: Can the standards evolve, embrace new communications mechanisms, and remain relevant?